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    Windows folder in C has huge file size

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by rainielle73, Jul 10, 2008.

  1. rainielle73

    rainielle73 Newbie

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    Hi! My Windows folder in my drive C seems to take up a huge amount of hard drive space. It's size is 12gb! I'm sure there's a virus somewhere but I can't seem to find it! I already tried running Kaspersky, AVG and McAfee but they all say that nothing is wrong with my drive.

    Please help me!

    Thanks!
     
    rainielle73, Jul 10, 2008
    #1
  2. Razor2

    Razor2 Notebook Deity

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    Is it Vista? If yes, it is probably normal, and by the way viruses don't take up multiple Gbs, they are a couple of Mbs at max.
     
    Razor2, Jul 10, 2008
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  3. Wishmaker

    Wishmaker BBQ Expert

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    What Windows do you use?
     
    Wishmaker, Jul 10, 2008
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  4. chesieofdarock

    chesieofdarock Notebook Deity

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    This is perfectly normal as far as I know. Mine takes up 12.7 gigs
     
    chesieofdarock, Jul 10, 2008
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  5. niGht kiD

    niGht kiD .. beach boy ♫

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    It will be useful if you can provide us more info of your OS.
     
    niGht kiD, Jul 10, 2008
    #5
  6. Fountainhead

    Fountainhead Notebook Deity

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    I've got Vista x64 and it takes up 16.6 GB. Can anyone beat that? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
     
    Fountainhead, Jul 10, 2008
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  7. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    Mine is 8.47 :D

    Ultimate X64 no tweaks
     
    JCMS, Jul 10, 2008
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  8. rainielle73

    rainielle73 Newbie

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    Hi, my OS is windows XP, that's why I've been wondering about that...

    Thanks!
     
    rainielle73, Jul 11, 2008
    #8
  9. ATG

    ATG 2x4 Super Moderator

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    Check your Internet Temp Folder..I had a 7gb there once :)
     
    ATG, Jul 11, 2008
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  10. KimoT

    KimoT Are we not men?

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    How much of your harddrive is reserved for system restore? I think the default is 12% of the volume.
     
    KimoT, Jul 11, 2008
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  11. Wirelessman

    Wirelessman Monkeymod

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    Mine gives me two figures;

    Size 12.5GB

    Size on disk 12.6GB
     
    Wirelessman, Jul 11, 2008
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  12. rainielle73

    rainielle73 Newbie

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    That's the problem, if i manually highlight all the files and folders in C:/Windows, it only adds up to 5 GIG and not the size it claims...
     
    rainielle73, Jul 12, 2008
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  13. Garandhero

    Garandhero Notebook Deity

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    17.1 gigs.


    thats with no system restore points, shadow copies, temp files, windows update backup files, everything is cleaned, defragged...

    I cant figure it out.
     
    Garandhero, Jul 12, 2008
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  14. bogart

    bogart Notebook Evangelist

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    Download Folder Size for XP, read the instructions, and make sure you have the view hidden files and folders setting checked in Control Panel -> Folder Options to see which folder is taking up the most space.
     
    bogart, Jul 13, 2008
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  15. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    system restore usually eats a good chunk.
     
    surfasb, Jul 14, 2008
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  16. Garandhero

    Garandhero Notebook Deity

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    again i dont use system restore... so no space is being used by that.

    still 17.1gigs and slowly climbing.
     
    Garandhero, Jul 14, 2008
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  17. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Weird, my XP SP2 32-bit figures are pretty low.. :p And the System Restore is at 12%, so where is it stored in windows....
    I know nothing about System Restore.. :D

    props1.JPG props2.JPG props3.JPG
     
    Andy, Jul 14, 2008
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  18. A#1

    A#1 Notebook Consultant

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    XP Pro here...2.25 GB
     
    A#1, Jul 14, 2008
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  19. A#1

    A#1 Notebook Consultant

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    ...good point...i don't use system restore...have it disabled
     
    A#1, Jul 14, 2008
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  20. A#1

    A#1 Notebook Consultant

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    i have a machine...the one my 10 yr old son uses...his C:\ drive space kept creeping up...to the point where it wouldn't boot anymore...with my setup odd part about it...i keep all my machines partitioned with my programs directory in a seperate partition...thought the hard drive was dying...reformatted and no problems since...i always wondered if some of the online games he was playing was putting files in C:\ until it came to the crash point
     
    A#1, Jul 14, 2008
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  21. crash

    crash NBR Assassin

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    Are you viewing Hidden Files and Folders and Operating System Files?
     
    crash, Jul 14, 2008
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  22. jisaac

    jisaac Notebook Deity

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    jisaac, Jul 14, 2008
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  23. SL2

    SL2 Notebook Deity

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    The pagefile is 1.5 times the RAM size by default.
    Use ExplorerXP, an alternative for Windows Explorer that shows folder size.

    The /winsxs folder uses more than 3 GB alone in VU32.
     
    SL2, Jul 14, 2008
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  24. Apollo13

    Apollo13 100% 16:10 Screens

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    System Restore is not the culprit. It stores its files in C:\Volume Settings Information (which is hidden by default). The IE cache also is not in the C:\Windows folder, at least not by default. You can check where it is by going to IE, then Tools--> Internet Options, then (under the Temporary Internet Files section) Settings, and then clicking "View Folder" and looking at the address bar. If it is in C:\Windows, it could be the culprit.
     
    Apollo13, Jul 14, 2008
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  25. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Has anyone still got that problem..?? :D
     
    Andy, Jul 14, 2008
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  26. Garandhero

    Garandhero Notebook Deity

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    Yes I do... Windows folder is 17.2gigs... cant figure it out.
     
    Garandhero, Jul 15, 2008
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  27. crash

    crash NBR Assassin

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    Are you guys low on disk space? What's the big deal here?
     
    crash, Jul 15, 2008
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  28. Garandhero

    Garandhero Notebook Deity

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    no... just the windows folder is massively large its quite aggravating.. mine is SLOWLY getting bigger every day too.. about +30 files and +5 folders a day.
     
    Garandhero, Jul 15, 2008
    #28
  29. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Have you got vista or XP..??
    I am not absolutely sure if this would work, but had a similar problem a year ago in XP..!!
     
    Andy, Jul 15, 2008
    #29
  30. SL2

    SL2 Notebook Deity

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    Check out /windows/winsxs/ , it is very large, most likely over 6 GB on your system.
     
    SL2, Jul 15, 2008
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  31. Garandhero

    Garandhero Notebook Deity

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    oh yea my winsxs is 9.6 gigs. seems a lil to big dont it?
     
    Garandhero, Jul 15, 2008
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  32. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    The Winsxs folder includes all manifests, optional components and 3rd party Win32 files.

    The files in %windir%\system32 are hard links to the winsxs directory.

    Have you installed a lot of software....??
     
    Andy, Jul 16, 2008
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  33. surfguy17

    surfguy17 Notebook Geek

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    tried doing what the link said and it said i didnt have access to delete it even though im an admin hows that possible?
     
    surfguy17, Jul 16, 2008
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  34. jisaac

    jisaac Notebook Deity

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    jisaac, Jul 16, 2008
    #34